I was so excited, nervous, scared, happy about my appointment today! I was SO ready to get my stitches out and be that much closer to getting my cast off, but I'm the biggest baby EVER, so I was so scared; I KNEW it was going to hurt! Unfortunately, Drew wasn't able to come with me to the hospital today because of work. I thought I would be just fine by myself; I've been trying to tell myself I'm independent through this, but I have to admit, I love having Drew by my side to help me. Whether he's helping me clean, cook, get dressed, wash my hair, paint my nails, CURL MY HAIR (yes it happened I swear!), or just sit next to me and let me squeeze the crap out of his hand while I'm in pain, I LOVE the support he's offered though this whole situation. So anyway, I ventured out alone, without him... on our scooter!
I'm so dumb, but I was running late and didn't want to wait for a cab. I hopped on our scooter and drove the 10 minute drive to Songtan Station with one hand. I got some looks, but I freaking made it! I bought my ticket, waited for the train, and hopped on.
Okay, so whenever we ride the train, everyone stares at us. It makes sense; we look different. However, it's not something I can get used to! Everyone on the train stares at you! Some people are nice and try to show off their English skills, but most people just stare like, "why the hell are you here?!" This is uncomfortable enough when I'm with Drew, but it was so much worse by myself!!
When I arrived at Suwon Station, I remembered where to go since I'd done it before with Drew. I grabbed a cab and figured since the name of the hospital is Ajou University Hospital, that the cab driver would know exactly where to take me... WRONG. He had no idea. I finally just pointed to my cast and said, "hospital!" Apparently there are two hospitals in Suwon, and he didn't take me to the right one! We pulled up to a Catholic hospital, and I finally realized I had paperwork from Ajou that was written in Korean. I showed that to the cabbie, and 7,800 KRW later, I was dropped off at the CORRECT hospital. 15 minutes late! Whoops.
As soon as I walked in I instantly regretted telling Drew not to ask his supervisor if he could come with me. That hospital just exhausts me. There are SO MANY people, I can't understand or talk to almost ANYONE, and plus it brings back all the bad memories of surgery!
I'm so dumb, but I was running late and didn't want to wait for a cab. I hopped on our scooter and drove the 10 minute drive to Songtan Station with one hand. I got some looks, but I freaking made it! I bought my ticket, waited for the train, and hopped on.
Okay, so whenever we ride the train, everyone stares at us. It makes sense; we look different. However, it's not something I can get used to! Everyone on the train stares at you! Some people are nice and try to show off their English skills, but most people just stare like, "why the hell are you here?!" This is uncomfortable enough when I'm with Drew, but it was so much worse by myself!!
When I arrived at Suwon Station, I remembered where to go since I'd done it before with Drew. I grabbed a cab and figured since the name of the hospital is Ajou University Hospital, that the cab driver would know exactly where to take me... WRONG. He had no idea. I finally just pointed to my cast and said, "hospital!" Apparently there are two hospitals in Suwon, and he didn't take me to the right one! We pulled up to a Catholic hospital, and I finally realized I had paperwork from Ajou that was written in Korean. I showed that to the cabbie, and 7,800 KRW later, I was dropped off at the CORRECT hospital. 15 minutes late! Whoops.
As soon as I walked in I instantly regretted telling Drew not to ask his supervisor if he could come with me. That hospital just exhausts me. There are SO MANY people, I can't understand or talk to almost ANYONE, and plus it brings back all the bad memories of surgery!
My doctor finally called me back at about 4:30. He took off my cast and started messing with my hand. He straightened my fingers out one by one, which sent tingly shocks all the way through my hand. Then, he flattened my hand over and over. I think that hurt more than cutting my hand initially! It was so painful, and he kept doing it.. over and over and over. "Does it hurt?" I wanted to say, "No... I'm just bawling my eyes out because it feels so good... YES IT HURTS CRAZY!" At one point, I almost kicked him because the shocks that were going through my hand hurt so much that I couldn't control it!!
The doctor told me he wanted me to keep my cast off from now on. Originally he wanted me to keep it on for at least another week after the stitches were removed, but he decided to leave it off. I actually wish I could have worn it a little longer! I don't feel safe without it on my hand, but I know this will help me heal faster. He told me to start trying to use my hand for little tasks like doing my hair, putting on make up, cooking (he clearly doesn't realize how this whole thing happened), and typing. Finally I can type blog posts with more than one hand! I have only been using my thumb and index finger to type this, but hopefully soon I can start using all of them. I'm still not supposed to lift anything with my hand, or do any exercise (yeah right). Sorry Doc, but Drew and I started T25 today. I just use one hand though!
After talking to my doctor more, I was sent to another room to have my stitches removed. SO many people told me this was not going to hurt at all, so I actually wasn't too worried. WAH THEY WERE WRONG! :( It freaking SUCKED. The guy was not very good at taking them out haha. It took at least 10 minutes to remove 15 stitches. He cut me a few times too! Not badly, but enough to make me cry more than I already was! Once they were out, he gave me a nifty bandaid fit perfectly to go around my fingers, and wrapped me up.
I took a video of the doctor taking some of my stitches out. After this, it got too painful to do anything but squeeze a wad of Kleenex and cry haha! Ignore the poor baby boy crying in the background; he was NOT pleased to be there.
The doctor told me he wanted me to keep my cast off from now on. Originally he wanted me to keep it on for at least another week after the stitches were removed, but he decided to leave it off. I actually wish I could have worn it a little longer! I don't feel safe without it on my hand, but I know this will help me heal faster. He told me to start trying to use my hand for little tasks like doing my hair, putting on make up, cooking (he clearly doesn't realize how this whole thing happened), and typing. Finally I can type blog posts with more than one hand! I have only been using my thumb and index finger to type this, but hopefully soon I can start using all of them. I'm still not supposed to lift anything with my hand, or do any exercise (yeah right). Sorry Doc, but Drew and I started T25 today. I just use one hand though!
After talking to my doctor more, I was sent to another room to have my stitches removed. SO many people told me this was not going to hurt at all, so I actually wasn't too worried. WAH THEY WERE WRONG! :( It freaking SUCKED. The guy was not very good at taking them out haha. It took at least 10 minutes to remove 15 stitches. He cut me a few times too! Not badly, but enough to make me cry more than I already was! Once they were out, he gave me a nifty bandaid fit perfectly to go around my fingers, and wrapped me up.
I took a video of the doctor taking some of my stitches out. After this, it got too painful to do anything but squeeze a wad of Kleenex and cry haha! Ignore the poor baby boy crying in the background; he was NOT pleased to be there.
After all of that trauma, I paid and got my new at home pharmacy...
And that was that. (Well besides getting on the wrong train on the way home hahaha. Yet another reason I need Drew!) Anyway, I go back to see the surgeon again in 3 weeks. Until then, I am supposed to use my hand as much as possible and start to get my range of motion back. Meanwhile, hopefully my nerves will continue to regenerate and get back to normal. Fingers crossed!!!